


Siderophobia

by Wallwalker



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Community: fandomweekly, F/F, FFVII OGC and Remake Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24242293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wallwalker/pseuds/Wallwalker
Summary: Tifa tries to understand Aerith's fear of the stars.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart
Comments: 2
Kudos: 75





	Siderophobia

Aerith couldn’t stop looking at the night sky. They’d been camping for an hour, trying to rest, but she was still sitting up, and her green eyes were wide and terrified. She kept staring upwards, looking at the stars. 

"It's okay," Tifa said to her, sitting down next to her and putting a hand on her shoulder, because it felt like something that she needed to hear. After what had happened in Midgar, and the long walk away from the city... they were all exhausted. Aerith had to be feeling it too. "You're not alone, you know that."

Aerith put her hand on Tifa's, but her eyes were still on the stars. There was a new moon out tonight, which meant that there was nothing to outshine them. Tifa hadn't seen anything so pretty in such a long time. She could not imagine being afraid of the sky; the view of the stars from Nibelheim had been amazing, even after the Reactor was built, and she had missed that sky so much since she'd come to Midgar. Whatever stars might have been in view on the edge of the city had been hidden by the haze of light that came from the plate.

But Aerith... she grew up in Midgar, didn't she? First in a tiny room in the Shinra Tower, and then in the slums, under the plate. She never saw the stars as a child. Tifa tried to understand, tried to put herself in her shoes... it just felt like such a nightmare to her, living without the sky. But for Aerith, who was used to the steel sky of Midgar... she would try to understand.

"There are so many lights," Aerith said. "If there's so much light up there, how can it be so dark down here?"

"I used to wonder that too." Tifa smiled slightly, remembering old conversations. "My mother said they were too far away for much of their light to reach us. That it would take us years, or longer, to get to one of them, even in the fastest flying machine that we could imagine."

Aerith nodded, looking down. "I don't understand. I keep thinking about... about the stories my mother told me. The Calamity from the Skies... what if one of those stars is another one, just like it?"

Tifa didn't understand, not quite. There were so many things she did not yet know about Aerith's past, her stories. But she needed to comfort her now, so she gently squeezed Aerith's shoulder. "If anything like that comes down here, I'll kick its ass for you."

Aerith coughed, then laughed. "Thanks, Tifa," she said when she recovered, leaning against her. "I wonder if I'll ever get used to this."

"I got used to Midgar, when I thought I never would. So hopefully."

"Mmm." She kept staring up at the stars, a little bit calmer now. Tifa felt a bit of a blush in her cheeks, but that was fine - she didn't mind being a shoulder to lean on, if it helped. "I hope so too."


End file.
